


Best Friends?

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22335244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Jack feels that Alex doesn't want to be as close to him anymore.
Kudos: 5





	Best Friends?

**Author's Note:**

> Set in 2013.

Jack loved his bandmates very much, they were the people that he felt the closest to in his life. Out of the three of them, he felt the closest to Alex. They had a radio show together, they always played off of each other onstage, they had a special chemistry in interviews, and they’d known each other the longest.   
They were on tour, and usually they’d go out after shows together, but Alex had been declining Jack’s invitations recently. Jack felt that Alex had been a bit distant, but he wasn’t really sure why. Despite feeling this way, Jack hadn’t talked to Alex about it, assuming that he was reading into all of this too much.   
They’d just finished up a show in Cincinnati, and Jack decided that he was going to ask Alex to go out to a club, just the two of them. He thought about inviting the others, but he did really just want to hang out with Alex, and it would give him confirmation that everything was fine between them. Once they were done onstage, they walked off and gave their instruments to their techs, then Jack walked over to Alex and pulled him off to the side.  
“That was a great show!” Alex exclaimed, adrenaline pumping through him.  
“Yeah it was! Hey dude, I’ve got a question,” Jack started.  
“Sure, what is it?” Alex asked.  
“Well, there’s a kick ass night club I heard about that’s a couple blocks away from here, and the two of us should go! They have an open mic, and I bet that some of our fans are headed there, so I thought we could surprise them and play some of our songs!” Jack explained.  
“Shoot, man, I promised Rian that I’d go somewhere with him. His girlfriend recommended this place, and I told him that I’d check it out with him tonight. Maybe you and Zack could go to that nightclub,” Alex replied. He gave Jack a half smile before walking away, crushing Jack. All of the similar instances that had been happening played through Jack’s head, and this was made him start to crumble.   
This made him think that Alex didn’t want to be as close anymore, which really hurt him. Alex was the one who he confided in for everything since they were fourteen, they’d spent countless hours together; hanging out with Alex was always Jack’s favorite thing to do. He felt like he could really be himself with Alex, but due to everything that had been happening, he wasn’t sure how true that statement was anymore. Soon after, Zack walked up to him.  
“Hey dude, Alex told me you wanted to go to some club, That sounds really fun, but I’m pretty beat. I got up super early this morning, and really just need to rest, sorry man,” Zack explained.  
“It’s all good, getting rest is important. I’ll catch you later,” Jack replied, feeling even more hurt. He didn’t want to go back on the bus yet, not wanting his band to see him so upset, so he went to the green room. They had a two AM bus call, and it was about eleven thirty, so he’d decided to spend about an hour there to calm himself down some, then go on the bus and go right to sleep.   
He walked to the green room slowly with his head down. Once he got there, he shut the door, then sat on the couch. He kept thinking about all of the things that were upsetting him, and he felt tears start to sting at his eyes. He’d normally try to get them to go away, but not this time; with Rian and Alex going out, and Zack going in for the night, he figured that he wouldn’t have anyone walk in on him, so he let himself cry.   
He usually tried to suppress his emotions because he thought was supposed to be happy constantly. His role was to be the comic relief that made others smile and laugh, not the one who gets sad and deals with emotional issues. While it felt a bit odd to openly cry, it was kind of nice for Jack. He didn’t really think about anything, he just let his tears fall the way they wanted to.   
He was so lost in it that he didn’t hear the door to the green room being opened. Alex walked in looking happy and excited, but his demeanor immediately changed when he saw Jack crying into his hands.  
“Woah, Jack, what’s wrong?” Alex asked, rushing over to the couch and sitting next to his friend. Jack’s cheeks went red, not expecting to be caught. Deep down, he also didn’t expect Alex to care so much.  
“It doesn’t matter,” Jack replied in a small voice.  
“Yes, it does, you’re clearly upset about something,” Alex continued.  
“No, it doesn’t. Shouldn’t you be out with Rian?” Jack replied, sounding a bit angry.  
“Well, I came here because I left my jacket, but I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on. You can talk to me, Jack, you know that,” Alex pushed.  
“I don’t know if I do now, man,” Jack said, wiping away some stray tears.  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alex asked, sounding genuinely confused.  
“I can’t believe I’m actually talking to you about this, but here it goes, I guess. I feel like we’re not as close, and that’s why I’m so upset right now,” Jack bluntly stated.  
“Not as close, what? Why would you think that?” Alex asked back.  
“You know what, it’s stupid, don’t worry about it,” Jack replied. He had a hard time expressing his emotions, which Alex knew, but he also knew that if he could get Jack to tear down the walls he was building around himself, they could get somewhere in this conversation.  
“No, please tell me, man. I want to fix this, and I want you to be happy, because it hurts me to see you upset or crying, since you’re my best friend,” Alex continued.   
“Fine, here it is; I feel like we’re only together when we really have to be. By that, I mean we have the radio show, but that’s technically work. Whenever someone wants to interview us, I’m always the one saying that it should be the two of us, which makes me think that you don’t want to do them with me. Also, you’ve said no to going out with me after our sets a bunch over the past month. Not every time, but quite a few times. You’re always going places with either Rian or Zack, and it seems like you only want to spend time with them now,” Jack explained. He could feel a few more tears fall, but he just let it happen.   
Alex took a deep breath before speaking, he wasn’t expecting this at all. He didn’t think things had been too different, but he also wasn’t the one asking only to get shot down time after time.  
“Jack, I’m so sorry, I really had no idea that you felt this way, and for so long. I wasn’t trying to distance myself from you at all. Why didn’t you say anything until now, though?” Alex asked back.  
“Well, you know I’m not the best at expressing my feelings. Also, I didn’t want you to get mad or think I was being stupid, so I’ve just been bottling it up for the past month. I’m sorry, I know this is probably all so stupid,” Jack replied.  
“It’s not stupid, don’t apologize, I’m the one who needs to be doing that. I honestly didn’t think much of any of this, so I’m really glad that you told me about everything. I promise that from now on, I’ll take all of this into consideration. Also, you and I will hang out together, just the two of us, a lot more often. I love spending time with you, you’ve been my best friend since eighth grade. You’ve helped me with problems, anxieties, insecurities, and everything in between. You’re the reason I’m a singer. Your friendship means the world to me, and I’m sorry that I’ve not been acting like that lately,” Alex explained.   
“I’m sorry that I kind of overreacted, I just didn’t want to be replaced,” Jack replied.  
“You never will be, I promise,” Alex said, pulling his best friend into a hug, which Jack greatly appreciated.   
“I guess you should go, you have to get to Rian,” Jack said awkwardly.  
“Do you really think I’m just going to go leave you after this conversation?” Alex asked, sounding surprised.  
“I mean, yeah,” Jack replied.  
“No dude, we’re going to hang out tonight, assuming you still want to. Do you still want to check out that club?” Alex suggested.  
“Honestly, I’m not really in the mood to do that anymore. Can we do something that’s a bit more chill?” Jack asked.  
“Sure. I know! We can go to the bus, split a bottle of wine, and play a video game! Just like we’d do at your house on Friday nights in high school!” Alex exclaimed.  
“That actually sounds great, but maybe we could split two bottles?” Jack requested making Alex laugh.  
“We can do that. I’ll text Rian about the change, then we can go,” Alex explained. He quickly sent his text, then walked to the bus with Jack.  
“What should we play?” Jack asked as the got on the bus.  
“Mario Kart?” Alex suggested.  
“Sounds good! You get the wine glasses, and I’ll set up the Wii in the back,” Jack replied. He quickly changed, then took some blankets and pillows to the back lounge. After putting in the game card, he pulled up the menu.   
Not much later, Alex came back, now changed and holding the wine bottles and glasses. They selected their characters, then poured some wine into their glasses.  
“I want to make a toast to our friendship. I’m sorry I’ve been such a shitty friend lately, but I’ll always be here for you, man. Now and forever,” Alex said, clinking his glass to Jack’s.  
“Thanks man, this means a lot. This toast, tonight, all of it. I’m so glad you came to my middle school in eighth grade, it was one of the best things to ever happen to me,” Jack said, making them smile.  
“Me too,” Alex replied as they started their first race. They spent the rest of the night like this, grateful for their friendship, knowing it would last forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is one of my original ideas that I wrote back in the fall! Almost everything I have written and haven't posted yet are sickfics, with the exception of this one! I really like reading angsty stories, and that's what I tried to write here! It's something I definitely need to work on, so if you have requests or ideas for that kind of thing, please send them in! Any requests are welcome, but you guys know that. I wanted to give a quick shoutout to Satellites_and_Stars, they have a chaptered atl story they are working on, and it's so good, so definitely check it out! I hope you all liked this story, and send in requests if you have them! Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
